Bangladesh opt to bowl first

Bangladesh have won the toss and opted to field against Scotland in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday at Al Amerat Cricket Ground.

“The wicket looks good to bat on, but we want to chase down here,” Mahmudullah said right after winning the toss. "We want to play our best cricket, and we have included three allrounders in our playing eleven.”

Bangladesh overlooked opener Mohammad Naim and included Soumya as the opener. Along with Soumya, Liton Das will open the innings for Bangladesh.
Mustafizur Rahman will lead Bangladesh’s bowling attack, and he will be accompanied by Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin. The spin department will be led by Shakib Al Hasna, and he will have Mahedi Hasan with him.

The two teams will be fighting in the qualifying first round of the marquee event that is being played in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Bangladesh lost both their warm-up games vs Ireland and Sri Lanka that they had played ahead of the start of the tournament. But for this game their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is likely to feature after playing the IPL 2021 final for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Bangladesh are coming into this tournament on the back of three consecutive T20I series wins over Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand. On the other hand, Kyle Coetzer-led Scotland won both their practice matches vs Namibia and Netherlands after a strong all-round performance. The top 4 teams out of 8 in Round 1 will qualify for the Super 12 stage.

Bangladesh (Playing XI)

Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah(c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Scotland (Playing XI)

George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer(c), Matthew Cross(w), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal